Jamb claw



y 1958 H. o. RHUNDBERG 2,843,886

JAMB CLAW Filed July 15, 1955 mmvrozm HALVARD o. RUNDBERG ATTORNEKS United States Patent JAMB CLAW Halvard O. Rundberg, Portland, Oreg.

Application July 15, 1955, Serial .No. 522,314

1 Claim. (Cl. 2016) The present invention relates to a temporary closure for a building opening and more particularly to hardware for holding a panel across a building opening.

During the construction of a building, it is frequently necessary to hang the outer windows and doors in place during the early stages of construction so as to keep unauthorized persons out of the building and protect the same from vandalism. This is undesirable, however, for the doors are subject to injury and the windows to breakage during the construction, requiring repair or replacement by the builder. In other instances the builder will nail a panel of suitable material such as plywood across the door or window opening. This, too, is undesirable since the nails mar the frame, and it is particularly undesirable where the panel must be removed and replaced frequently.

It is an object of the present invention, therefore, to provide an arrangement for temporarily securing a panel in place across a building opening which will not cause injury to the building structure.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a temporary closure that may be readily mounted or re moved from the position across a building opening or which may be locked in place to prevent unauthorized removal.

More particularly it is an object of the invention to provide suitable hardware for hanging a temporary closure panel across a building opening.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become more apparent hereinafter.

In accordance with the illustrated embodiment, the present invention utilizes a panel of plywood or similar material which may be placed in peripheral engagement with one side of the frame of the building opening, the panel having secured thereto hardware members including portions which are adapted to engage the opposite side of the opening frame to hold the panel in position thereacross, at least one of the pieces of hardware being adjustable from the outer side of the panel so that the panel may be removed or mounted without injury to the frame.

For a more detailed description of the invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view showing the panel secured across a doorway with the hardware of the invention, the view showing the side of the panel which will normally be facing towards the inside of the building;

Fig. 2 is an elevational view slightly reduced in scale showing the opposite side of the panel in its relation to the doorway;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken substantially along line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an elevational view of one of the pieces of hardware of the invention;

Fig. 5 is an elevational view of another of the pieces of hardware of the invention; and

Fig. 6 is an edge view of the hardware piece shown in Fig. 5.

2,843,886 Patented July. 22, 1958 The drawings illustrate an arrangement for securing a panel 10 across a doorway formed in the building wall indicated at 12, the frame of the doorway being indicated at 14. The panel 10 is shown of a-size to preferably engage against the stop 16 of the door frame 14 and for purposes of description it will be assumed that the panel 10 is fitted on the outside side of the doorway as will normally be the case. The panel 10 may be of any suitable material such as, for example, plywood.

Fixed to the inner surface of the panel 10 adjacent one side edge thereof are a pair of vertically spaced rigid claw means 17 each of which comprises a metal plate bent to form a flat base portion 18 adapted to be fixedly secured to the inner surface of the panel member by suitaable means such as screws 20. The claw means 17 also include a catch portion 22 spaced from the plane of the base portion 18 and adapted to engage the side of the stop 16 opposite that engaged by the panel Ill as. most clearly shown in Fig. 3. An elongate angle bar 24 is preferably secured to the catch portion 22 to form an elongate seat for engaging the stop 16 thus to distribute the load and minimize the possibility of marring the stop 16. The invention is shown with two rigid claw means 17 secured to the panel 10 though it will be obvious that only one may be necessary in some instances and that, in others, more than two may be used.

The panel 10 is removably locked in place by a locking claw means 30 also mounted on the inner surface of the panel 10 but on the side edge thereof opposite that along which the rigid claw means 17 are secured. The locking claw means 30 comprises a flat base plate or portion 32 adapted to be secured to the panel member 10 by suitable means such as screws 34. Connected to the base plate 32 by a hinge 36 is a latch portion 38 which is adapted to engage the stop 16 on the side thereof opposite that engaged by the panel 10 as shown in Fig. 3. The latch portion 38 may also be provided with an angle bar 40 to increase its area of engagement with the stop 16. A coil spring 42 is mounted on the hinge pin 44 and arranged to urge the latch portion 38 into locking engagement with the door stop 16.

A handle 46 is provided for operating the latch portion 38, the handle being pivotally mounted on a pin 48 for pivotal movement about an axis parallel to the axis of the hinge pin 44. The handle extends outwardly of the panel 10 through an opening 50 formed in the base plate 32 and an opening 52 formed in the panel. The handle 46 is connected to the latch portion 38 by a link 54 whereby the latch portion 38 may be withdrawn from looking position by suitable movement of the handle 46.

Preferably means are provided for locking the handle against unauthorized movement. In the illustrated embodiment, a staple 58 is mounted on the base plate 32 and extends through the opening 52 outwardly of the panel 10. The staple 58 is provided with an opening 60 and the handle 46 with an opening 62 which register when the latch portion 38 is in locking position and through which openings a padlock 64 or other suitable locking device may be passed to secure the handle against unauthorized movement.

To remove the panel 10 from the door opening the handle 46 is thrown to unlatch the latch portion 38 whereafter the panel is pivoted to move the catch portions 22 clear of the stop 16 and the panel then removed bodily from the opening. To mount the panel in position, the reverse procedure is followed.

Thus, with the door closure of the invention the building opening may be quickly closed or opened and without causing any injury to the frame of the opening, and when the panel is locked in position, unauthorized entry of the building will be prevented.

Having illustrated and described a preferred embodi-- ment of the invention, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention permits of modification in arrangement and detail. I claim as my invention all suchmodifications ascome within the truespiritland scope of the: appended claim.

I claim: 1

In combinationa panel and hardware for supporting such panel in forming a temporary closure fora building opening, said hardware comprising a rigid claw structure havinga catch portion, an intermediate portion, and a flat base portion for rigidly supporting, said catch portion spaced from the plane of the surface of the interior side of said panel with said catch portion facing outwardly of one edge of said panel so asto engage behindthe frame of said opening, a locking claw structure having a latch portion, an intermediate portion and a flat base portion for supporting said latch portion spaced from the plane of said one surface of said panel and facing outwardly from an opposite edge of said panel so as to engage behind the frame of said opening, said latch portion being rigidly supported by said intermediate portion of said locking claw structure, a spring hinge for rigidly supporting said intermediate portion of said locking claw structure on said base portion of said locking claw structure, said hinge resiliently urging said latch portion toward frame engaging position and providing for withdrawal of said latch portion from said frame engaging position, a handle extending through and pivoted to said base for said locking claw structure at a position spaced from said hinge and having one end extending through said panel tothe exterior side there of, and a link connecting the other end of said handle with the intermediate portion of said locking claw structure to provide for withdrawing said latch portion from said frame engaging position by pivotal movement of said handle from saidexterior sideof said panel, said base having a rigid portion extending through said panel to said exterior side, and said rigid portion and said handle having aligned apertures adjacent said exterior side of said panel for receiving a locking means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITEDSTATES PATENTS 830,817 Anderson Sept. 11, 1906 1,163,478 SnOW Dec. 7, 1915 1,348,715 Grending Aug. 3, 1920 1,921,051 Traut Aug. 8, 1933 

